Robert Marshall Root (20 March 1863 – 21 August 1937), was an influential American

tonalist Tonalist (foaled February 11, 2011) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Belmont Stakes, beating the favored California Chrome, who was attempting to win the Triple Crown. Tonalist won the Peter Pan Stakes in ...

and

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

artist.

Youth

Robert Marshall Root was born in the city of

Shelbyville, Illinois Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Illinois, Shelby County, Illinois, United States, along the Kaskaskia River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 4,674. HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital, located in town, is the co ...

, on March 20, 1863, in the midst of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Third and youngest son of John and Eunice Root, Robert showed artistic promise from an early age. His career started, allegedly, after watching a local artist, L. A. Birk, make pencil drawings of a prominent house in Shelbyville, after which he got himself a board, some pencils, and started to draw with him. Root began his academic studies in the Shelby County school system. While in his youth, young Robert became enamored with the various magazines and comics that he would read at his family's general store in Shelbyville. Upon graduating from high school in approximately 1881, young Robert was accepted into studies at the prestigious

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

in New York City to pursue a career in the visual arts. Unfortunately, Robert returned home only after a few months of study in New York City. He started to reach down into his artistic will and began a career as a sign painter in Shelbyville. Given his ability, Root began to make many friends in and around Shelbyville. He was able to parlay this success into an application and subsequent admission into

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. While there, Root excelled in his artistic studies, learning a great appreciation for the aesthetic and serene. He graduated from the University, earning the highest academic and artistic honors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Robert Marshall 1863 births 1937 deaths People from Shelbyville, Illinois Painters from Illinois Tonalism American Impressionist painters 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists Washington University in St. Louis alumni